Emerald

Welcome to Emerald class.

Teachers are Mrs McElhattan and Mrs Watkin.

PE days are Wednesday and Friday.

Homework is set on Thursday and returned on Tuesday.

Welcome to back to Emerald Class and we hope you had a good (and restful) holiday. We are both looking forward to a busy and exciting new school year. This year we will follow the same pattern as previously where Mrs McElhattan will be teaching on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday morning and Mrs Watkin will be teaching on Thursday and Friday. Please feel free to come and see us or contact us if you have any worries or would like to discuss something with one of us.

Here are the details of what your child will be learning about in Emerald this term:

English:

This term the children will be working on several writing genres. We will begin with a unit on Stories in familiar settings, followed by a fiction, non-fiction and poetry unit. We will be focusing on effectively using our ‘Star’ sentence types to improve our writing. As you will be aware the demands on the children have increased with regard to their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills (SPAG). We will have focused spelling and grammar lessons and much of the English homework will be based on this. All the children have been given a ‘Grammar Glossary’; this is to help with their homework as they will need to refer to it frequently in order to access the questions. Please encourage your child to try to find things out independently; however please do help them if they need assistance.

Reading:

Developing quick reading skills is an important skill in Emerald Class. Please continue to support your child at home with their reading so they can become more accurate and fluent. We will have a reading session every day in class. Please could your child have their reading diary and book in school every day. Once a week we will check their reading diary and leave a question for them to respond to by the following week.

Maths:

This term we will be revisiting a range of skills in Numeracy; Place value, addition and subtraction methods, multiplication and division skills. Problem solving and Reasoning are the key focus of the New Curriculum so we will be continuing with Big Maths each week as well as using a range of Maths Challenges with their homework too through the new Mental Arithmetic books.

Please see the separate glossary for guidance on how to complete the Maths homework.

Spelling:

The expectations for levels of spelling are very high. Each week your child will have 5 words they have been given from their year spelling list. They may also have an extra five words which are personal to them and will be ones they are struggling with.

Please could your child practise these words in their Spelling Homework book. In the front of their book you will see some ideas to make it more fun, e.g. Bubble words, rainbow words etc. Please encourage your child to be creative and get practising!

They will be tested on these words in class on a Wednesday. Please take the time to practise the words frequently so that your child becomes more confident.

(more details in the section about homework).

Times tables:

To help all of the children become fluent at recalling the multiplication facts of all of the times tables to 12 and related division facts, we practise these regularly in school and each child is tested weekly in their Big Maths session. Your child also has a login for TT rockstars to help them practise at home. Please encourage your child to do this little and often. We are aiming for automatic recall so practising saying the whole fact 3x8 = 24 is more beneficial than counting in 3s to find an answer.

Topic-

Our topic this term is ‘When the Earth gets angry’. We will learn all about extreme weather or natural disasters and their causes.

So far our work certainly seems to have caught the children’s interest.

Science:

Our topic this term is Rocks and Soils. We will be conducting experiments in class; taking measurements, making observations and drawing conclusions.

P.E:

This term your child will have PE on Wednesday and Friday. After Christmas PE times will change and we will spend all Monday afternoon at the Dronfield Sports Centre where we have use of their fantastic sports hall. It is essential that your child has the correct PE kit in school so that they can participate fully in our lessons. Please could the children remove any earrings prior to coming to school.

R.E:

Our topic this term is ‘What can we learn from the Creation Story?’

Homework:

Homework will be given out on a Thursday; to be completed and handed in by the following Tuesday. The homework will usually consist of a grammar sheet and a page to be completed in their Maths book. Your child will also have a list of spellings to learn each week. They will bring their spellings home on a Thursday and will be tested the following week on a Wednesday. If your child has any problems with the homework do not hesitate to come and see one of us.

We will regularly add new books onto Bug Club, please encourage your child to access these and to complete the challenges to improve and extend their learning.

Our connection school in Pakistan have sent us their creations from their work on the Peace project. We are very privileged to have received such beautiful cards and gifts. We have put them on display for all of our children to see.

Welcome to Class 4!

Class teachers:

Mrs McElhattan and Mrs Watkin

Teaching assistant:

Ms Rowbottom, Miss Bushnell

HLTA:

Mrs Glistrides

Sheffield University Trip - Adaptation

All of Class 4 were given a fantastic experience learning about Adaptations in Animals at the Sheffield University's 'Be a Scientist Day'

The children studied insect heads under the microscope and made careful observational drawings.

They carried out experiments on flour beetles and explored their results.

Everyone got the opportunity to handle invertebrates such as cockroaches, giant millipedes and stick insects too.

Upstairs in the University Museum the children were able to examine the specimens, search for clues about their adaptations and look at comparisons between creatures from the same classifications that have adapted to their environment in different ways (eg bats and rats)